Southern California -- this just in

Iranian American weddings too over-the-top?

Shahbal Shabpareh and his band Black Cats — a top Iranian American
pop group — have performed American hits with a Persian twist at
upper-crust Iranian celebrations almost weekly for years.

They've seen lots of lavish weddings, but one stands out as the most over the top.

As guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres outside the banquet hall, the bride
was placed in a glass coffin. The groom fitted on a white half-mask.
Then, the carefully planned "Phantom of the Opera" theme devolved into
chaos.

Condensation formed inside the coffin as guests delayed filtering in.
When the groom finally took his cue to present the bride, the lid
wouldn't budge. Before long, he was slamming the glass trying to break
through as the bride wailed inside, her makeup running down her face.
It would be an hour before she was finally freed.

For Shabpareh, the night crystallized the breakneck rise in ostentation
at weddings hosted in recent years by L.A.'s wealthiest Iranian
Americans. For some, party hosting can be a competitive sport, with
spending used as a yardstick for status. Weddings boasting guest lists
almost a thousand deep with price tags nearing half a million dollars
are not unheard of.

Iranian culture is by no means alone in making huge affairs out of
weddings, rites of passage and other celebrations. But rarely are the
stakes as high as they are for Iranian Americans, particularly in Los
Angeles, home to the largest — and one of the most affluent — Persian
communities outside of Iran.

During the 1980s, the initial years of the Iranian diaspora, many were
unsure whether L.A. would be any more than a temporary home, and were
wary of spending extravagantly during a time of transition. But as
members of the immigrant group began to settle down and prosper, there
was a shift.

"They said 'If we are living in this country, let's live,' " Shabpareh
said. "It used to be only one cameraman with the camera on his
shoulder. Now there are four or five camera crews at parties and they
have a 25-foot crane over the dance floor."